MZF1082.xml Guide to the Montana Society of Engineers Records 1887-2020 Montana Society of Engineers Records Kim Allen Scott Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities Montana State University Library, Archives and Special Collections, Manuscript Collections 2009
P.O. Box 173320, Centennial Mall Montana State University Bozeman, MT 59717
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-11-24. Finding aid written in English Finding aid based on DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard), 2nd Edition. 2020 December 23 Web archive added Montana State University Library, Archives and Special Collections, Manuscript Collections Montana Society of Engineers records Montana Society of Engineers 1082 Collection 1082 6 linear feet 1887-2025 This Montana Society of Engineers Records includes the MSE's constitution and bylaws; minutes of the annual and periodic meetings; photocopies of Society activities printed in the Journal of the Association of Engineering Societies; correspondence. There is a selection of papers, minutes and correspondence of the various chapters around the state as well as the activities of the organization's committees. The records also include research papers composed by members; papers pertaining to conferences, meetings, proceedings and bulletins of assorted engineering associations; the controversy and problems of registration of engineers; some financial records and assorted ephemera complete the collection. Collection materials are in English

The Montana Society of Engineers was proposed on March 22, 1887 at a meeting of a group of Civil Engineers and Surveyors in Helena. By July 1887, Officers of the Montana Society of Civil Engineers had been selected and by-laws adopted including setting an annual meeting for each January as well as monthly meetings when enough members desired to hold them. Forty six engineers from all parts of Montana Territory became charter members. The Society changed its name to Montana Society of Engineers in February, 1897 by striking the designation "Civil" because members included civil, electrical, mechanical, mining and other engineering professions including surveyors. Meetings featured both social and business elements with entertainment, professional conversation and presentation of papers. Formal dinners were the order of the day in early meetings with propriety emphasized and young engineers expected to be properly respectful to their elders. In the 1950s the nature of the Society became more serious. Three events in 1957 influenced the Society - affiliation with the National Society of Professional Engineers, the decision to formalize local chapters and State mandated registration for all engineers (civil engineer registration was passed in 1947). These changes caused a rapid growth in membership and prestige. Publications of the Society included the Quarterly Journal of the Montana Society of Engineers, later titled simply the Journal of the Montana Society of Engineers from 1916 to 1949 and the Montaneer from 1964 to 1977. In 1930, the Society instituted a Gold Award for one engineering student graduating from Montana State College in Bozeman and another from the Montana School of Mines in Butte. The Society is still active and has as their mission statement: "We are a society of engineering professionals from all disciplines that promotes the ethical and competent practice of engineering, advocates licensure, and enhances the image and well-being of its members."

This collection includes the MSE's constitution and bylaws with various amendments over time; minutes of the annual and periodic meetings with related materials sometimes including papers read; photocopies of Society activities printed in the Journal of the Association of Engineering Societies; correspondence which includes many reports of accomplishments of both government agencies and commercial companies in Montana in response to a yearly questionnaire as well as Society business and membership communications; membership applications (incomplete) frequently including a signed oath of fealty, resignation letters and many memorial resolutions upon death of individual members; a full membership card file with assorted status notations; correspondence and records of gold medal winners from the Butte School of Mines and Montana State University, Bozeman. There is a selection of papers, minutes and correspondence of the various chapters around the state as well as the activities of the organization's committees, most of which are materials are from the legislative committee that monitored the state and national laws that impacted engineers. The records also include research papers composed by members; correspondence and notes related to Kathleen Hendricks, an MSU history graduate student who, in 1975, submitted a thesis titled "The advancement of the science of engineering and the interest of the profession : the Montana Society of Civil Engineers 1887-1899"; papers pertaining to conferences, meetings, proceedings and bulletins of assorted engineering associations ; the controversy and problems of registration of engineers; some financial records and assorted ephemera complete the collection. A web archive begins in 2020.

Series 1 Administrative records, 1887-1975

Series 2 Membership records, 1895-1957

Series 3 Correspondence, 1890-1967

Series 4: Web Archive, 2020

This collection is open for research.

The Helena chapter of the Montana Society of Engineers (MSE) donated the bulk of the organization's records to Special Collections in October of 1974 with additional material added in 1975 by Kathleen Hendricks. This collection also incorporates material formerly assigned accession numbers 66 and 1132. This collection was reported to the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections in 1979 and assigned their control number 79-686.

This collection was processed 2009 September 22

[Creator Name], [Date of Creation], [Brief Description of Object], Folder [#], Box [#], [Collection Name], [Collection #], Montana State University (MSU) Library, Bozeman, MT

 Adami , Arthur E. (Arthur Ernest), 1886-1978--Interviews De Lacy, W. W. (Walter Washington), 1819-1892 Hendricks, Kathleen Lucille, 1949- Montana School of Mines (Faculty)--Interviews Montana School of Mines (Students) Montana Society of Engineers-Archives Montana Society of Engineers-Awards Montana Society of Engineers-History Montana State College--Students Montana Society of Civil Engineers Montana Society of Engineers-Billings Chapter Montana Society of Engineers-Butte Chapter Montana Society of Engineers-Great Falls Chapter Montana Society of Engineers-Helena Chapter Montana Society of Engineers-Helena Division Montana Bozeman (Mont.) Engineering students--Montana--Bozeman Engineering students--Montana--Butte Engineering teachers--Montana--Butte (Mont.)--Interviews Engineering--Awards--Montana Engineering--Montana--Billings (Mont.)--Societies, etc Engineering--Montana--Butte--Societies, etc Engineering--Montana--Great Falls (Mont.)--Societies, etc Engineering--Montana--Helena--Societies, etc Engineering--Montana--Societies, etc Engineers--Montana--Butte (Mont.)--Interviews Irrigation-Montana Oral history Engineering Engineering students Engineers Irrigation Colleges and Universities Mines and Mineral Resources Water and Water Rights Montana Bozeman Oral Histories Oral histories--Montana Intervews-Montana Oral histories Administrative records Series 1 Series 1 1887-1975

The constitution, by-laws, and related materials; minutes; photocopied published reports of the MSE appearing in Journal of the Association of Engineering Societies; materials from the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE); Chapter and Committee records; assorted papers collected and possibly presented at meetings; 3 financial ledgers; assorted conference, meeting and proceedings papers and bulletins; records of Gold Medal winners; an incomplete subject index; research papers of Kathleen Hendricks; oral history tapes and an oral history transcript of early MSE member of Arthur E. Adami, Sr.; ribbons and other ephemera including a 1916 song book of the Society. The original cassette tapes of Adami's interview have been removed from Box 8, folder 13, for storage elsewhere.

 Constitutions, by-laws, amendments and incorporation papers 1910-1972 1 1 Minutes of first meeting 1887, list of charter members, and short history of MSE 1965 1 2 Minutes and associated papers 1891-1893 1 3 Minutes and associated papers 1894-1899 1 4 Minutes and associated papers 1900-1910 1 5 Minutes and associated papers 1913-1914 1 6 Minutes and associated papers 1915-1917 1 7 Minutes and associated papers 1918-1922 1 8 Minutes and associated papers 1923-1925 2 1 Minutes and associated papers 1926-1929 2 2 Minutes and associated papers 1930-1932 2 3 Minutes and associated papers 1933-1935 2 4 Minutes and associated papers 1936-1939 2 5 Minutes and associated papers 1940-1943 2 6 Minutes and associated papers 1944-1946 2 7 Minutes and associated papers 1947-1948 2 8 Minutes and associated papers 1949-1950 3 1 Minutes and associated papers 1951-1954 3 2 Minutes and associated papers 1955-1958 3 3 Minutes and associated papers 1959-1961 3 4 Minutes and associated papers 1962-1965 3 5 Minutes and associated papers 1966-1967 3 6 Minutes and associated papers 1968-1969 3 7 Minutes and associated papers 1970-1973 3 8 Proceedings of eleventh to fourteenth years 1898-1901 3 9 Photocopies of MSE reports in the Journal of Assn of Engineering Societies (JAES) 1888-1892 4 1 Photocopies of MSE reports in the JAES 1893-1894 4 2 Photocopies of MSE reports in the JAES 1895-1896 4 3 Photocopies of MSE reports in the JAES 1897-1899 4 4 Photocopies of MSE reports in the JAES 1900-1903 4 5 Photocopies of MSE reports in the JAES 1904-1906 4 6 Photocopies of MSE reports in the JAES 1907-1909 4 7 Photocopies of MSE reports in the JAES 1910-1912 4 8 Photocopies of MSE reports in the JAES 1913-1914 4 10 Photocopies of MSE reports in the JAES 1915 4 10 National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) information and membership 1956-1969 5 1 NSPE newsletters 1969 5 2 Montana Technical Council - MSE 1968-1969 5 3 Guides to creating new Chapters from NSPE 1951-1969 5 4 Billings Chapter 1958-1971 5 5 Butte Chapter 1957-1970 5 6 Great Falls Chapter 1958-1970 5 7 Helena Chapter (prior to 1957 known as Division) 1942-1970 5 8 Committee assignments and manual 1967-1971 5 9 MSE legislative committee 1966-1967 5 10 Legislative newsletters (NSPE) 1966-1967 5 11 MSE legislative committee- registration law materials 1968-1969 5 12 Legislative newsletters (NSPE) 1968-1969 5 13 MSE legislative committee 1968-1969 6 1 MSE legislative committee 1970-1971 6 2 MSE legislative committee 1972-1973 6 3 Legislative newsletters (NSPE) 1970-1972 6 4 Papers presented at meetings or collected by the Montana Society of Engineers 1900s-1970 6 5 Irrigation Questionnaire and report of W.W. DeLacy 1889 6 6 Proceedings and bulletins of Montana engineering organizations 1918-1948 6 7 Assorted national engineering conference and meeting materials and proceedings 1925-1949 6 8 Provisions and problems of registration of engineers 1935-1936 6 9 Chart of the census of engineers by rank and class in the USA 1930 6 10 Financial ledger 1955 July - 1957 May 7 1 Index of subjects in correspondence and minutes (incomplete) 1891-1971 7 2 Gold medal awards to engineering students of Montana State College (MSU) and Montana School of Mines 1930-1972 7 3 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1930 7 4 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1931 7 5 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1932 7 6 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1933 7 7 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1934 7 8 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1935-1936 7 9 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1937 7 10 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1938 7 11 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1939 7 12 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1940-1941 7 13 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1942 7 14 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1943-1944 8 1 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1947 8 2 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1948 8 3 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1949 8 4 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1950-1951 8 5 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1952 8 6 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1953 8 7 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1954 8 8 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1955-1956 8 9 Medal winners with correspondence and scoring 1957 8 10 Research correspondence - Kathleen Hendricks 1973-1975 8 11 Preliminary collection inventory and publicity clippings for Kathleen Hendricks' research 8 12 Transcription of oral history interview of Arthur E. Adami, Sr. by Kathleen Hendricks 1973 December 12 8 13 Ribbons for officers and annual meetings, suggested logo for society 1901-1938 8 14 Assorted memorabilia and ephemera including society song book of 1916 8 15 Membership records 2 2 1895-1957

Application forms and early membership rolls followed by updated membership lists up through 1957. Membership applications are in chronological order, and some have oaths of fealty, resignation letters and memorial letters attached. There are two ledgers that incompletely list the dues collections for members during 1909 to 1937. Finally there are file cards (Box 11) that should have all members listed chronologically. The cards have notations as follows: Left top is the name and address, company or position of the member, right top has the date voted into membership and an asterisk to indicate a charter member, æO.M.' to indicate an organizing member, æC.M.' to indicate a corresponding member, æA.M.' to indicate an associate member and æH.M.' to indicate an honorary member. In the middle left are lists of references to the member. The reference notations are C= correspondence; M= minutes; and # = year. For example, a C-39 notation means a reference in the 1939 correspondence file; an M-39 notation would refer to a reference in the minutes of 1939. M.A. represents a membership application which sometimes shows that it was rejected as unqualified. On the right middle are listed the year of offices held and also resignations, and dates of death for active members.

 Application forms and membership lists 1895-1915 9 1 Membership lists 1936-1957 9 2 Membership applications A-B 9 3 Membership applications C-D 9 4 Membership applications E-H 9 5 Membership applications I-L 9 6 Membership applications M 10 1 Membership applications N-S 10 2 Membership applications T-Z 10 3 Membership dues ledger No. 1 dated 1909-1937 10 4 Membership dues ledger No. 2 (some continued records from ledger No. 1) dated 1929-1937 10 5 Alphabetical index file of all members and applicants (key to notations in front of box) 11 Correspondence 3 3 1890-1967

Index cards listing subjects of correspondence, followed by the chronologically sorted letters related to regular business of the Society and assorted special issues and concerns, along with replies from Montana organizations and industries listing their annual accomplishments in response to a yearly request from the society. There are also exchanges about scheduling of meetings, chapter news, and recommendations for papers and medal candidates, and associated materials.

 Index 1890-1930 12 1 Index 1931-1968 12 Correspondence and associated materials 1890-1891 12 3 Correspondence associated with Worlds Exposition 1891-1892 12 4 Associated with Senate Bill S663 on surveys by T.C. Power 1981-1983 12 5 Correspondence and associated materials 1892-1893 12 6 Correspondence and associated materials 1894-1899 12 7 Correspondence and associated materials 1900-1901 12 8 Correspondence and associated materials 1902-1905 12 9 Correspondence and associated materials 1906-1912 12 10 Correspondence and associated materials 1913-1915 12 11 Correspondence and associated materials 1916-1919 12 12 Correspondence and associated materials 1920-1925 13 1 Correspondence and associated materials 1926 13 3 Correspondence and associated materials 1927 13 3 Correspondence and associated materials 1928-1930 13 4 Correspondence and associated materials 1931 13 5 Correspondence and associated materials 1932 13 6 Correspondence and associated materials (cont.) 1932 13 7 Correspondence and associated materials 1933 14 1 Correspondence and associated materials 1934 14 2 Correspondence and associated materials 1935 14 3 Correspondence and associated materials 1936-1937 14 4 Correspondence and associated materials 1938-1941 14 5 Correspondence and associated materials 1942-1945 14 6 Correspondence and associated materials 1946-1948 15 1 Correspondence and associated materials 1949-1951 15 2 Correspondence and associated materials 1952-1955 15 3 Correspondence and associated materials 1956-1958 15 4 Correspondence and associated materials 1959-1961 15 5 Correspondence and associated materials 1962-1965 15 6 Correspondence and associated materials 1966-1967 15 7 Web Archive 4 2020-2025